When Percy met Annabeth
by Happilyeverfter
Summary: This is the story of Percy and Annabeth growing up together and always being there when the other needed them most. The summary isn't as good as the story, so please read and forgive me for any grammar mistakes.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Annabeth and Percy. Percy and Annabeth. You would say their names like you say milk and cookies, or sugar and spice. They were inseparable. If you wanted to know where Percy was, ask Annabeth. If you wanted to know where Annabeth was, go to Percy.

The two were as close as close can get. Like two halves that complete a whole. Their friends doubted that they would be able to go as much as one day without each other. You could never find the friendship they had anywhere else in the entire world.

It was the first day of school. The Sun was shining, birds were singing, Percy was throwing a tantrum about not wanting to go to school. Yep, it was just the usual.

"But mommy, I don't wanna go" the four year old complained. "Percy. Honey, I love you and want you to be smart. You have to go to school for that" Sally Jackson tried to calm her son. He made his signature 'seal face' and said "if you love me so much, why would you want to send me away to school for this many hours" he held up all his fingers.

Sally shook her head at her over dramatic son. Even at four he could make a pretty good dramatist. Percy saw that his mom wasn't giving in and tried a new tactic. "Mommy" he pouted, adding a lisp for good measure, "i can't stand to be away from you for that long today".

At first, Sally nearly cooed a at her son and considered not what he said. Just for a split second. Then she realised what he was doing and smirked. She would have a little fun with him."don't worry Percy, this isn't just a one day thing. We get to do this every single day" she said with fake enthusiasm.

"Every single day!?" Percy repeated slowly. He looked ready to pass out. "I thought it was just a one time thing." "You thought wrong. Now get your bag and park that butt on your car seat" Sally said. "We're going to school". Percy groaned and got into the prius.

Meanwhile, at the Chase residence, everyone's favourite little blonde Angel was ready at the door to go to school, her bag on her back and he curls in a neat ponytail. And if she wasn't your favourite blonde Angel before (because you had no idea who she is), she is now.

"Mother" she called. "I'm ready for school". Athena Chase came out of the kitchen with her car keys in hand. "Someone's excited for their first day of school" she smiled. "Come along now, Annabeth. Let's go".

Percy arrived first at Happyday Elementary School. Annabeth got there right after him. Their mothers walked them to their class, with constant complaints from Percy about how none of this was fair to him and Annabeth looking at him in confusion, for she had been waiting forever to start school.

The two were left in the same classroom as their mothers walked away, engrossed in a conversation. Percy looked at the neat child nest to him and felt subconscious about his Massey raven hair which usually stuck out in all directions due to him not brushing it.

Annabeth thought that she would not get along with the bright eyed boy next to her, as he seemed to be the exact opposition of her. However, these feelings changed when he stuck out his hand towards her. "I'm Percy" he said. She gave a small smile and shook his hand ."Annabeth".

Percy looked happy at his accomplishment of mingling on his first day. "Can I call you Beth for short. Oooh I know, how about Annie. Even better". She shook her head. "You can call me Annabeth, Seaweed brain" she retorted. 'Seaweed brain' he thought. "My brain is so not made of seaweed" he said crossing his arms.

"But it is full of seaweed" she said smugly. He decided to fire back. "Well aren't you a wise girl". Annabeth looked at him. "That's actually something to be proud of. I just said your brain doesn't work ".

Percy was annoyed with the know it all. "Well it'll have to stay until I find a better bad thing" he stuck his tongue out at her. She just sighed and rolled her eyes. "Hey Annabeth. What's so interesting in the sky that you keep looking there?"

She groaned. "I'm rolling my eyes at your stupidness, Seaweed brain." Percy gasped. "Annabeth, you just a bad word. Watch out or your mouth will be washed out with soap. And believe me, soap may smell good but it tastes horrible. I even tried it once and I did not like it one bit."

"Only you would do something like that" Annabeth sighed. What was she gonna do with this boy! He needed a-lot of fixing. She wasn't even sure if she could handle it. The little four year old was especially smart for her age, top of her class and a teacher's pet. So this made her and Percy polar opposites, but that's why their friendship wasn't any ordinary one.

It was colouring time, and the duo were sitting next to each other, extremely absorbed in their sheet of paper. Guess which electric blue eyed, spiky haired girl came and sat with them. For those of you who couldn't guess it was Thalia Grace, don't talk to me.

Behind her was a pale boy with really dark brown eyes and shaggy hair. As well as a skinny boy who for some reason reminded Percy of a goat. How random huh.

"Hi" Thalia spoke up, getting milk and cookies' attention (I'm just gonna call Percy and Annabeth this for now so deal with it. Percy being milk and Annabeth cookies). They looked at her curiously. "I'm Thalia, and these are my friends Neeks and Grover" she introduced the two behind her.

If you don't know which description fits which personality either, you really shouldn't be here reading about the world of Percy Jackson. Cause I'm starting to think you haven't even read the series and just clicked on a random fanfiction. This is for PJO fans only. And PJO is Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Back to the story, sorry bout my little rant. "It's Nico" the dark looking kid said. Cookies thought he looked the walking dead. He seemed to give off fumes of darkness, even as a child. "Can we colour with you" Thalia asked, ignoring Nico's protest.

"Sure why not" milk said. Before Turing to cookies and whispering loudly "she's scary". Cookies rolled her eyes. "She heard you, dumb head". Grover laughed and Thalia just grinned. "Good. People should be scared of me".

So the five little rays of sunshine coloured away to their hearts content, till finally it was time to go home. "See you morrow" milk waved to cookies, for tomorrow was too big a word for his little brain. "It's to- morrow" cookies corrected him, before waving to the rest and running to her mother. "I made some new friends today" she said excitedly.

Little did she or milk know that this was a turning point in their lives. The day their lives truly began. This is the day when it all began and they developed the most precious friendship over the years. This is the day when Percy met Annabeth.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Now I'll just fast forward Percy and Annabeth's life and summarise the year's. For if I wrote about all the wonderful moments they shared, we'd be there for a long time, and frankly, I'd get bored of writhing and you'd get tired of reading what I write.

When they were five Annabeth got her ears pierced. This was behind the scenes at the piercing place. Percy decided to come with Annabeth and support her. "Percy I'm scared" she whimpered. "Don't worry. It'll be so fast you won't even be able to feel a thing" the five year old boy tried to give as much moral support as a kid his age could.

"But it's gonna hurt. W-what if s-something goes wrong o-or he pierces the wrong place and then I'll have to get an optation (she's a five year old who can't pronounce operation, people. Just making it sound real.) on my ear and it'll hurt e-e-even more" the girl burst into tears. Percy wanted to cry seeing her cry.

He had an idea. "How bout this" he said brightly. "Ill hold you hand and we'll sing happy and you know it. By the time the song finishes, the ear piercing will be done too and you won't even know it". She looked unsure but nodded anyway.

"Come on sweetie" Athena called. "It's your turn. Now show mommy what a brave little princess you are". Annabeth held onto Percy's hand so tight that he thought it would fall off if she didn't let go. They sang 'if you're happy and you know it' loudly as they could.

Her ears were pierced and she didn't even know it. Annabeth's mom he'd put in simple studs in her ears. "Tomorrow we'll get really pretty and colourful earnings for you " she said and Annabeth squealed. "Thank you so much Percy" she said. "I didn't even feel a thing". Percy couldn't bring himself to say I told you so.

When they were six, Percy broke his arm. It was a bright and sunny day outside; the Sun was shining, birds were singing, all that rubbish. Inside, however, it was not too bright and sunny for Percy and Annabeth.

"Annabeth" Percy said, dragging her name. "I'm booooored. I have nothing to dooooo" he whined. Annabeth was equally bored. For once, she didn't have an emergency book in her hand.

Annabeth never forgot her book. She took one every where she went, just in case. She could've sworn she had it in her hand when she left her go use to go to Percy's.

Truth is, Percy hid her book as soon as she got there because he would have nothing to do while she read. Frankly he was jealous of the book and how Annabeth seemed to give it more attention than she gave him. But hey, he's a six year old so he's allowed to be like this.

The two decided to go outside and see if there were any ideas about what to do when you're dying of boredom for them there. They found one. It was a tall tree in Percy's backyard, standing in all its glory, waiting to be climbed by whichever generous soul would do that.

The children stared at it for a moment. "It's like its calling us" Annabeth whispered. "I swear its begging me to climb it" Percy whispered back. "Come on". Annabeth was on the top before Percy even started. "Woah. How'd you do that so fast Annabeth" he said in awe.

"I'm talented at many things" she said smugly. "Well wait for me" Percy said, desperate to reach Annabeth's level, or it would be extremely shameful for him. He began climbing and didn't look down even once, until suddenly he did.

Percy would never admit it, specially in front of Annabeth, but he wasn't very...comfortable with heights. In other words, he was scared of them. When he looked down, imagine how high it must've felt for him. The tiny tot climbing the tall tree was terrified (see what used did there. If you can't see, get your eyes checked)

He let out a small whimper but continued to climb uncertainly. He was nearly there when, being the stupid seaweed brain he was (they don't call him that for nothing), looked down again. He was now petrified, even though he didn't know what that meant (probably still doesn't), it just felt like the right thing to think in his situation.

Annabeth must've sensed his discomfort because she looked down at him worryingly. "Come on Perce, nearly there" she said encouragingly. "I-I can't" he managed to choke out. "I'm g-g-gonna fall. Annabeth help me" he sobbed.

"No you're not. Just remember, stay strong. You're one of the bravest people I know so that shouldn't be hard for you" she said, trying to console him. But she was pretty scared herself now. What was the six year old to do about this, when she couldn't get off the tree to get help, without Percy getting down first.

Although he seemed to be in no condition to move, he did just that. Just not intentionally. He fell and screamed. Annabeth saw him fall and screamed even louder. "Percy" she shrieked and climbed down th he tree lightening fast.

Percy landed on his arm and that's how it broke. The parents came running out and rushed him to the hospital. Annabeth was crying that it slap her fault while Sally told her that of course t wasn't.

She finally saw Percy the next day, his arm in a sling and ran to hug him, being carefully of his arm. Even as a child she knew this much. "Stupid seaweed brain. Why didn't you tell me you were afraid of heights. I wouldn't have made you climb the tree" she said, slightly angry at him.

"I was afraid you might laugh at me for being a scaredy cat" he stuttered. She softened immensely. "I'd never make fun of you seaweed brain. And I'm sorry for not knowing you were scared earlier". Percy hugged her, the best he could with a sling on, in response.

When they were seven, Thalia and Annabeth got enrolled in ballet classes. "Absolutely not!" Thalia screeched, looking at the fluffy pink tutu she and Annabeth were supposed to wear. Annabeth agreed with her while the boys were laughing their heads off.

The girls gave them their famous death glares. Percy thought there was only one glare into he world as scary as Thalia's; that was Annabeth's one. "I'd pay big money to see Thalia wear a fluffy pink round dress thingy" Nico said between laughs.

"It's called a tutu" Annabeth said plainly while Thalia just glowered. "Imagine how adorable you'll look" Thalia's mom cooed. "Now say cheese".

That was their first and last ballet lesson. Let's just say that some one, more like two some ones, coated Madame Fufu in chalk powder an cut up her ballet shoes with safety scissors. Not to mention set off the fire alarm in her studio. Who'd do such a thing!

When they were eight, they met Rachel Elizabeth Dare. It we in third grade and Annabeth noticed her looking at an oblivious Percy with this dreamy expression on her face. Annabeth smirked.

"Hey Percy" she whispered "you've got an admirer. She admires you so much that she's been staring, sorry gazing, at you all day". Percy turned to look back immediately and spotted a now red Rachel.

Annabeth slapped the back of his head. "Don't just turn around like that. She's gonna know we were talking about her you idiot". Percy grinned sheepishly and was about to say something when Rachel walked up to them.

"Hey Percy" she waved shyly. "Hi Annabeth". Annabeth smiled at her while Percy awkwardly waved back. "Oh, hey Rachel". Then he quickly added "we were NOT just talking about you and how you been looking at me all day. Don't worry". *cue facepalm*

Now in his pea sized mind, he was trying to put her off. In reality, as you can clearly see, he just told her exactly what they were doing. Annabeth slapped his head again. "Stupid seaweed brain".

Rachel blushed a variety of interesting shades. Starting from blush pink to light red to crimson to a mad fire engine red as Percy's words sunk in. He watched her face in amusement. "So you know" she mumbled and turned to go when Percy stopped her.

"Wait. Why don't you sit with us for today. We could do our work together". Rachel looked like she had just died and gone to heaven, which she probably had. She looked at Annabeth as if she were asking for permission to join them.

Annabeth nodded at her, smirking. Rachel let out a little squeal and then came to sit with them. Percy had always thought that Rachel was really nice and cool, but could never bring himself to think of her as more than that.

As a result, they just became good friends, much to Rachel's dismay. Don't worry, she did eventually find someone else after realizing that her crush on Percy was just a silly schoolgirl one and meant nothing.

When they were nine, Annabeth's parent divorced. It all started with a little fighting, which got worse and worse each day. Annabeth would often just run into her room and cry herself to sleep, while her parents had no clue how much their affairs affected their child. She never got to tell them either.

One day Annabeth heard loud screaming from the kitchen and decided to put an end to this , instead of hiding like she normally would. Her plan did not go well. "IF YOU WANT TO BE WITH HER THEN IT'S FINE BY ME!" Athena screeched.

"AT LEAST SHE ISN'T THIS OVER DRAMATIC. ATHENA YOU MAKE A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLEHILL " Frederick yelled back. Neither noticed the terrified nine year in the door.

Annabeth was intelligent for her age, and even if she wasn't, it wasn't very hard to tell what the constant fighting was about. Frederick cheated and Athena found out, got furious, and this happened.

"Mom, dad" Annabeth said, but wasn't heard over all their screaming. "MOM! DAD!" She shouted, sick of everything. The two ashamed parents turned to look at a wide eyed Annabeth with guilty expressions. "Stop" she whimpered. "Just stop already!"

Soon enough, Annabeth came home one day to find her moon gone and her dad distressed. "Where's mom" she asked, almost afraid of the answer. "Gone" her dad whispered, and then held out his arms so he could hug her.

She ran out of the front door, ignoring her dad calling out to her. Tears were streaming down her face as she went to most reasonable place she could think of. Percy's house of course. She knocked on the door and waited.

As she waited, she thought about what happened. She couldn't say she was surprised. It would be impossible if this didn't happen, the way her parents were fighting. But a tiny part of her hung on to the unlikely possibility of everything going back to normal.

The door opened to reveal a grinning Percy. "Annabeth!" He exclaimed. But his smile vanished as he saw her face. His eyes widened in shock as he quickly ushered her in and took her to sit down.

Wrapping his arms around her in a warm hug, he asked "what happened?". She buried her face in his shoulder and let her tears fall freely, soaking his shirt. He rubbed her back soothingly. "My p-p-parents got a...a d-divorce" she sobbed.

Percy hugged her tighter. "It's okay Annabeth. Every thing will be alright". Now remember that the two were still just nine, so this was all he could say to her.

In Percy's mind, he was worried sick for his best friend. Seeing her like this tore his heart into tiny pieces. He wanted to help her, he really did. But what could he do.

"A-a-and I d-d-didn't even do a-anything about it" Annabeth continued. Percy couldn't believe she thought it was her fault. "Shhh, Annabeth, you had nothing at all to do with this. It was the fates' decision and no one can change that."

"But" she said, calming down a bit "what if mom left cuz she was sick of me".

"She would never get sick of someone as brilliant as you" Percy consoled her. "And she'll realize what big a mistake she made leaving you".

Annabeth spent the rest of day in Percy's arms. Sally was about to melt when she saw them.

When the two were ten, well nothing much happened. I got nothing . Life went on and they grew up. Like normal people would. That's all, nothing special to see here. Yet


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Soon it was Percy's fourteenth birthday and Sally got all emotional and started blubbering about the 'my baby's all grown up' stuff.

"Special blue pancakes for this special morning" she said, while Poseidon pat his back. "You're almost a young adult Perce" he congratulated. Then added, "still haven't mentally grown up.

"Thanks dad" Percy smiled. Then, at realising what his dad had said afterwards, glared. "Gee, you have so much faith in me. I'm touched". His parents cracked up at that.

Even though it was his birthday, Percy still went to school that day. He could've stayed home, as a once in a year time thing, but decided not to for a change.

When he got to his locker, he was putting his stuff in when he felt a presence behind him. Before he could turn around to see who it was, he was hugged from behind; very tightly, he must add.

"Happy happy happy birthday seaweed brain" Annabeth squealed. He smiled and turned around, hugging her back. "Well now I'm as old as you" he said smugly. Her birthday had been two months ago. (A.N. I'm not sure when her actual birthday is)

"I'm still older" she replied, sticking her tongue out like the mature person she was. "I've got so much planned. You me and the gang are going to..." She said but then stopped.

"Wait a minute, it's supposed to be a surprise" she said in realization. Percy's face fell. "Oh come on wise girl. Please tell me" he whined. "Sorry, no can do. Actually I'm not sorry. Doing this to you is fun" she said devilishly.

"But it's my birthday. I'm gonna know eventually, so why make me wait" he tried. "Exactly. Making you restless is amusing and you'll find out what's happening in the end. I guess you'll have to wait till then" Annabeth said, and without waiting for a response, walked to her class. "Rude" Percy thought.

As he walked into his first class, which was math, he was considering his life choices and why he made such bad ones. Would it have killed him to stay home today.

As soon as he entered the room, he was attacked by the Stoll brothers and Thalia. They punched him, sorry gave him birthday notifies, endlessly. "Owww!" He exclaimed. "And you know I'm only turning sixteen no need to punch me so much".

"What's the fun in that" Travis, the older twin grinned. "Its your special day bro. And we intend to make it one you'll remember" Conner, the younger twin finished.

Percy turned to Thalia. "Should I be scared now cuz I'm scared now. When the Stolls want to give a day you won't forget, they mean it. You never forget that day" he said.

Thalia just shrugged. "Happy birthday cousin dearest. Happy birthday" and with that, Mrs Dodds came in. "Settle down" she said in her croaky old voice.

Her students thought she was way too old and cranky to still be around. The past God knows how many unfortunate generations of people had to put up with her. And now 'Percy and pals' was one of those poor souls.

Mrs Dodds had been around for ages already. The number one question on everyone's mind was when will her time come. Oh no need to put it nicely.

Every one wanted to know when she would just go already. And they didn't just mean from the school, no offence, if you know what I mean.

"Jackson, just because it's your birthday, doesn't mean you're getting special treatment from me" she said to Percy's hopeful face. "I'm not about that life".

After a torturous hour of this, Percy couldn't get out of the class faster, Thalia right behind him. "So you know the plan for today right?" She asked.

He saw his chance and took it. "Yeah, but could you just repeat it. I have the memory of a goldfish". Hah, see what I did there. You know, Percy is originally the son of the sea god and ...oh forget it.

"Well" she began, then her eyes narrowed. "Wait a second, I'm not as idiotic as you think I am, kelp head. I ain't telling you nothing" she smirked. He groaned. "I'm not even gonna try to convince you".

The day seemed to drag on. Percy swore that this was the fates trying to ruin his birthday by making school seem longer. When he told this to Annabeth, she just told him that he was making no sense at all.

History wasn't too bad. The teacher, a disabled middle aged man in a wheelchair, Mr Brunner (but everyone calls him Chiron, as you should already know) is Percy's favourite teacher. And the only teacher he, or any other kid in their right mind likes.

Chiron welcomed Percy with a huge smile and a loud 'Happy Birthday child'. He gave Percy a chocolate bar and a pen. It had a Greek inscription carved on it.

Percy translated it to find that it said 'Riptide' in English. "What does that even mean?" He asked his teacher. "Child, this pen is very special. Treasure it. As for the inscription, I dunno" Chiron said casually.

At long long long last, school was let out. Percy literally ran out of his class, bumping right into Nico. "The birthday boy is a bit too eager" he laughed, while Percy stuck his tongue out in response.

"C'mon c'mon c'mon" he yelled, as excited as five year old would be at being told he was gonna get a big swirly lollipop. You know, those things don't taste as good as they look.

"I'm coming" Nico said, rolling his eyes at Percy's typical child is behaviour. "So I'm suppose to drive to... the destination. But first, this" he took out a wait for it...blindfold and told Percy to put it on.

Percy stared in disbelief. "Nico, dude, I'm touched at all the trouble you're going to, but no need to go as far as blindfolding me. I get that it's a surprise where we're going" he said jokingly.

"Annabeth's orders" Nico said simply, and tied the blindfold around Percy's head, making sure his eyes were covered properly. He lead Percy to the front seat of the car, bumping his head (slightly) against a sign board in the process.

"Owwie" Percy said loudly, over reacting at what happened. "Shut up and man up Percy" Nico told him disapprovingly.

"I'll man up the day you ask Thalia out. I mean, could you two be any more obvious" Percy shot back. Nico sputtered, nearly shrieking, "What! Are you talking about. Thalia and I, me and Thalia...ewww. she's just a friend" he said.

"A close friend" Percy cut in. "A very close friend" he said suggestively. Nico shoved him lightly. "Plus, she's my cousin so once again, ewww."

The topic was forgotten as Nico started the car and sped off. "You know, death breath, to an outsider, it would look like you're kidnapping me" Percy broke the silence.

"How do you know this is not all just a scheme to kidnap you. Huh Perce" Nico said. "Because I'm your awesome cousin and I'm family an you look up to me and you would never even think of kidnapping me " he said.

Then added uncertainly, "right?". Nico had to laugh at how stupidly gullible his cousin was. Percy was going to have a hard time in the future, he thought to himself.

The car finally stopped, and Percy fumbled to find his door handle, not being able to see anything. By this time, Nico had come around and opened Percy's door for him, helping him out.

They walked with Nico leading the way and Percy trailing behind, holding his hand. They looked ridiculous. But ridiculously cute at the same time.

Nico came to a halt, stopping Percy next to him. "We're here" he whispered. As soon as he took Percy's blindfold off, everyone burst into a loud chorus of Happy birthday.

It was all of Percy's closest friends. Annabeth (of course), Thalia (obviously), Grover (duh), and Rachel (technically she's originally his closest mortal friend).

Percy suppressed a gasp, marvelling at everything. Wait a minute, no he didn't. Sorry, wrong person, Percy doesn't even know what the word marvelling means. Percy smiled so wide, it looked as if his face would split into half any second.

They were at Montauk beach, Percy's 'favouritest (his words, not mine) place in the whole wide world'.

A picnic blanket was spread, with a variety of pizza, sandwiches, crisps, sodas and chicken nuggets (how random. I love chicken nuggets, especially the Mc Donalds' ones, btw). A few blue and green balloons were tied to the dishes of food.

"Thank you guys. This looks awesome. So awesome that I'm digging in right now" he then grabbed a plate and stuffed his face with food appreciatively.

"This is so good" he said, his mouth still full. The others just rolled their eyes and joined him. By the time they were done, not a crumb of food could be seen left. "At least no food will go to waste" Rachel supplied.

Then Annabeth went to the food hamper and took out the cake. It was blue, obviously, and if you don't know which it was obviously blue then ill knave you know you have no business reading this story if you don't know how Percy loves blue food.

I'm not gonna bore you with the details of how they cut the cake and opened the presents and Percy was filled with joy at what his friends did for him and all that rubbish cuz I've read some stories that are all about this and the actual romance never happens. I've got a decent story to write. (No offense)

Now when Percy got home. He didn't find his dad there. Instead, he found a teary eyed mother and immediately ran to ask what was wrong. Her eyes were red as she looked at Percy, her eyes pained.

"Your dad's gone" she whispered sneakily. "But Percy honey, he still loves us both dearly. I know it. He just can't be with us at the moment". Percy stared at her in shock. He knew his mother was too pure to blame his dad for anything.

He spent an hour comforting her, like the caring son he was. There was no way his mom would shed so many tears for no reason. His dad definitely walked out on them.

He was angry at his dad, then at himself. Poseidon probably got sick of Percy and needed up leaving Sally as well. It was his own fault, Percy thought. And know his mother was going to suffer. He never meant to do anything to ever even make her frown, and he ended up being the cause of her tears.

As soon as Sally feel asleep, Percy left quietly, going to the only reasonable place to go to about now. So when Annabeth opened her door to find a tear faced Percy, she was unable to hide her shock. Percy never, ever, cried. This had to be serious.

The girl ushered him in to hear his story, and kept telling him that there was no way any of this was his fault.

He seemed unconvinced, so she did the only thing she could think of. She just sat there and held him, like he had done for her whenever she needed it.

He cried into her shoulder and she let him. "If your dad did walk out" she said "which he didn't, he is extremely stupid to leave someone like you Percy".

He looked up at her. "I'm a terrible best friend. You just gave me an awesome day and here I am, being a problem for you. Not to mention ruining your shirt" he sniffed.

"Percy, listen. You've always been there for me and never complained when I came crying at your door at one in the morning. No, you held me and eased my pain. I could never survive without you, so this is the least I could do for you". Then added, "as for my shirt, you can get me a new one".

She succeeded in getting a smile from Percy, no matter how small. Both of them realised how much they meant to each other and needed each other. Percy stayed the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Percy was going to find Luke Castellan and personally throttle him. After he beat the living daylights of him. Hold up, if you're wondering why such violent thoughts were going through Percy's head, back up a bit.

So let's start from the beginning, like normal people. Not the middle when you have no clue why as happening and the author is just in their own little world, writing away, not considering what the reader's must be thinking (Like my cousin).

Lucky for you I care very deeply for my readers since I'm such a sentimental soul and take others into consideration (sarcasm you idiots, no offence)

It all started that fine summer day. Actually no. It was Autumn and it was monsoon season and it was raining hard and the sky was all dark and moody, rumbling away. Loudly too.

Annabeth had come to the library and didn't have a ride home. Percy had gone to see some relatives, so to drown her misery, Annabeth decided to do something. Like come to the library. When it was raining and she had no means of going home.

To be fair, it was bright and sunny when she left. It only started raining a few minutes ago. How was she supposed to know that Zues wasn't feeling very happy today.

Her phone battery had died before she had even left the house, and she had brought a dead phone with her, not realising it.

She groaned inwardly. There was no way she could walk , unless she wanted to catch pneumonia. Which she didn't, thank you very much.

She was pacing around, looking for a payphone, when a boy who looked about a year it two older than her came up and asked her if anything was wrong.

She took a second to analyse him, seeing if he could be trusted. He was taller than her, with Sandy blonde hair and sky blue eyes. He had a painful looking scar running across his face.

She decide to take her chances and smiled. "I'm really sorry to bother you, but could I use your phone. Mine's dead and..." the boy cut her off by handing her his phone.

I'm not gonna clarify who the boy is excusable if you don't know by now, you have problems and I'm seriously worried about them.

She smiled gratefully and called home, telling her dad to come pick her up. She turned to the boy. "Thank you so so so much...umm" she paused. "Luke" he held out his hand and she shook it.

It was only after he had gone that she realised there was something in her hand. She opened it to find a slip of notebook paper with a number scrawled on it and the words 'call me' on it. It was little keep Luke was expecting to meet her. 'I will' she thought.

She 'call me'd' him the next day and they decided to meet up. Turns out they had a lot in common and became fast friends. Percy thought Luke was 'pretty chill'.

It was two months after this when Annabeth decided she had feelings for her friend. Sorry Percabeth shippers. She meant Luke, not Percy. I can't believe I'm writing this, cuz I never understood Lukabeth (or whatever its called)

She asked Percy what to do and he said go for it. He also said that if Luke hurts her he will face Percy's 'intense' wrath. This earned a grin from Annabeth. It was good to know that Percy always had her back.

If you think Luke rejected her and that's why Percy is currently so mad at him, you're wrong. But what did happen is so cliche, I'm ashamed I wrote it.

Turns out Luke liked her back, but was too chicken to ask her out first. Of course he said yes, and so they gradually became a couple. Then they got married and lived happily ever after with two kids and a hamster.

Just kidding. As if! What really happened is that they had been dating for two years, and Percy and Annabeth were now sixteen.

Over the years, Luke saw how insanely close Percy and Annabeth were. If it were a girl, he wouldn't have cared. But he was actually jealous of how much attention Percy got and sometimes felt like Percy was the boyfriend.

Annabeth remained oblivious to this, no matter how smart she is. So one day when she was on her way out of the school building, she was not surprised to hear moaning because couples were always making out. Not her and Luke though. She didn't do that stuff.

She would've left and never found out, had the two not spoken. "You do it so much better than Annabeth. I like intense, and you're really intense". She froze at hearing Luke's voice.

Then she heard some girl. "Oh that feels good. But baby, how much longer will we have to keep it from everyone. Dump that loser already".

'God knows how long this had been going on' she thought, choking back a sob. Then she ran as fast as she could. Initially she had absolutely no idea where she was running to, but just knew she wanted to be anywhere but there.

She went and sat on a nearby bench and, taking deep breaths, finally looked around. There were fields of freshly cut grass, bordered by a variety of flowers.

In the middle, there was a colourful play pen. With big swirly slides and high monkey bars, a complicated looking climbing frame, a sea saw with frogs painted on it and lots of other exciting contraptions. For a five year old anyway.

This gave Annabeth a blast from the past. (Hehe, I love saying that). She remembered all the times she'd come to the park with her mom and dad holding either of her hands. She'd give anything to go back to that time.

Heck, she'd even hold her parents hands and skip along to the park. If it meant they would be like they used to. She had so much going on she'd never really had time to sit down and think about how she was coping with everything that he'd happened over the past years.

Annabeth never asked for anything. But today, she was ready to beg and beg, just to go back to before all this divorce and cheating business. What had she eve done to deserve such a messed up life.

At this point, Percy was literally the only reason she hadn't committed suicide yet. She had to admit, she had considered doing it a few times. But when everything is so hard for you, the only way to get rid of your problems seems to be to get rid of yourself. For good.

But Annabeth kept her resolve. Because she knew that Percy needed her. And she practically owed her life to him for all that he'd done.

Speak of the Angel (see what I did there. See. see) Annabeth had curled up on the cold park bench and hugged her knees. She then felt a warm pair of arms wrap around her.

She immediately relaxed into this person's familiar comforting embrace. The Fates were feeling generous today and sent Percy to her.

Silence engulfed the two as they sat there, and Percy finally spoke up. "Annabeth" he whispered softly. "What happened".

Now, you must know that it was extremely rare for Annabeth to cry.(In case you fell like my whole story is about Percy and Annabeth crying, turn by turn, I didn't mean to do that. Just having a lot of fun writing this so I'm really sorry if it's rubbish).

When Percy saw her lying there like that, he was brought back to day her parents divorced. That was the last time he saw her cry and hoped it would be the only. No such luck.

Annabeth didn't respond and just buried her head into his shoulder, small tears escaping herd eyes every now and then. Percy could feel her shaking slightly.

He tilted her chin up. "Here. Look at me. C'mon, what's wrong?" He questioned her again. "We both know I'm not going any where till you tell me what happened".

She sighed. If she told Percy about Luke, who knows what he might do. Percy tended to be a tad bit over protective of his friends. Especially Annabeth.

As much as she hated Luke right now, Percy might get hurt or in trouble and that's all that worried her. He would act a little too harshly. So she quickly mad something up.

"I was just remembering the times when my parents used to be together. You know, the good ol' days" she sniffled to make it sound more convincing.

He almost believed her, but one look at her big grey eyes and he knew she was lying. "There's something else" he said. She marvelled at how amazingly he could read her. She was about o deny it, but instead gave in cuz she knew she could never win with Percy.

"I saw Luke cheating on me with some girl, I think her name is Stacy, behind the school today and i can't believe it because i thought he liked me the way I liked him and now I dot know to confront him or what to do but Percy please don't over react."

Annabeth said everything so quickly it would have been hard to understand her, had it been anyone else. But this was Percy and was not 'anyone else'.

His fists clenched, and his eyes narrowed. Annabeth could've sworn she saw them turn into slits. His breathing got ever so slightly ragged, and he took deep breaths to calm himself.

"I swear if I see that little..." He began but Annabeth cut him off with a sharp 'language!'. "Just wait till I get my hands on the son of..." "Okay Percy, enough" she said.

He stopped his little rant to look at her. "You deserve so much better than him" he said. "Who needs boyfriends like Luke when I've got my best friend " she replied.

Percy held out his arms, and Annabeth readily responded by letting them engulf her in their warmth. In Percy's arms, Annabeth felt all fuzzy and happy. She felt like home.

Percy nuzzled her head and she relaxed into him. She wished Luke could be like this, but Luke was Luke. She had always thought they had some thing. Something real. Apparently these feelings were one sided.

The next day at school, Annabeth couldn't believe Luke have the nerve to come to her with a, fake, smile and put his arm around her. She glared at him and shrugged his arm off.

He looked at her in shock. "What was that about?" He asked. Annabeth couldn't believe him and was getting angrier by the second. As if on cure, she saw Stacy the biscuit pass by and send a not-so-subtle flirty wave in Luke's direction.

She really wished Percy would come to rescue her. Scratch that, no she didn't. If Percy walked in right now and unleashed his wrath, Luke would be no more. She took a deep breath and smiled at her 'boyfriend' with fake sweetness.

"Oh nothing much, Luke. Yesterday, I just found out that my boyfriend has been cheating on me for God knows how long with some cheerleader. No biggie. How was your day".

He stared in bewilderment a moment, then spoke. "Look, Annabeth, what you saw, it was nothing. It was a mistake and..."

She cut him off. "I want to believe you, I really do. But from what I saw, you seemed to be really into it. I want you to be happy. I haven't been a very good girlfriend lately, and understand that you want more time and attention from me. Something I haven't been generous in giving"

Her eyes watered slightly, but she shook it off. "I know it's partly because I'm always with Percy. But if Stacy can give you that time, then I'm gonna make sure you be with her and be happy. You deserve better than me. I get why you did what you did".

With that, she shouldered her bag and left, just wanting to be away from everyone. Luke was shocked at how Annabeth took everything. She was the one who deserved better, but hey, he thought, you couldn't blame him for being insanely jealous.

When Annabeth said she wanted to be alone, of course Percy was an exception. He didn't count as 'anyone else.' He was a special matter. When she thought of him, she thought of him as her other half. The one that made her whole.

Needless to say, Percy approached Annabeth a little while later with a bruised fist and a ski slightly bloody lip. Annabeth saw him and rushed to his side with an ice pack. "You didn't" she groaned, placing it on his hand gently.

"I did" he grinned back. "C'mon, wise girl. You didn't seriously think I would let him go off just like that after hurting the most important person in my life. After mom".

Annabeth's heart swelled when he said this. "Stupid seaweed brain. Look, now you've gotten yourself bruised because of me. This is exactly what I told you not to do"

If you haven't caught up to us yet, Percy taught Luke a lesson. And it wasn't just a verbal one. And by that, I mean it was a fight.

"Well then" Percy replied. "You should know that I don't listen to people's instructions. And I care way to much about you to let anyone hurt you. Remember that."

With that, he opened his arms and Annabeth collapsed into them. "Seeing you like this makes me so glad I taught that b..." Annabeth nudged him before he could say anything T rated cuz this story isn't exactly.

"...taught that biscuit a lesson." Percy continued. Annabeth laughed at her best friend's slip up and how he 'ingeniously' covered it. Percy smiled really wide. He'd gotten Annabeth to laugh, and that's all that mattered.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Do you know how it feels to like someone? You don't realize at first that you like them, but then you start noticing the tiniest details about them that you could've sworn weren't there before.

With Annabeth, she started noticing how her seaweed brain's eyes swirled with the emotion in a way that it made them look like the ocean.

When he was happy, they'd be all light and calm, like the sea on a nice sunny day. When he got angry, they'd immediately darken and show a raging whirlpool. When he was excited, they'd sparkle and shimmer.

She also noticed how he would absent mindedly scratch the back of his head whenever he was nervous. Or how he could never sit still, he always had to be moving some part of his body.

He loved the water. Anyone could tell you that. Annabeth sometimes wondered if he was half fish. She wouldn't be surprised. It seemed like he talked to the little guppies and goldfish whenever he saw them.

As for his intelligence, he wasn't exactly the sharpest pencil in the box. What I am trying to say (sarcasm) is that he was not a very bright person.

But he wasn't dumb either. Some of the intelligent things he said and did really made Annabeth wonder if he just played dumb, so that he could get on her nerves.

How he was far too loyal for his own good and always put others before him. Most of all, he was always there for her. He never had a problem comforting her or listening to her endless problems. And that's what Annabeth loved him for.

Percy was also experiencing new feelings and didn't know what to think of it. Was it wrong of him to take notice that Annabeth's eyes were like stormy skies.

When she was mad, they'd cloud over and darken immensely. When she was happy, they'd be a beautiful light grey colour.

A lot of people would insist that her eyes were blue. To complete her blonde hair, tanned complexion, California girl look.

But Annabeth hated stereotypes and she definitely wasn't one. Her eyes were clearly shown to be grey. Not light blue or sky blue or any of that.

Percy saw that when Annabeth would talk about architecture, she'd get so carried away she wouldn't even realize that she was ranting. She could go on for hours if no on stopped her.

Her eyes had this special light to them while she talked about architecture. Percy found it unique (and endearing). He found it adorable how she would blush from a range of pinks to reds at getting embarrassed.

But whatever happened, he knew she would be there for him. She was the one person in the world he could trust with his life (again, with the exception of his mom of course, but that's a different story). He loved her for that.

Back to me asking you f you've ever liked anyone. So you start noticing tiny details about them, yada yada yada. Then you realize, Omg! I like this person. You try to deny it at first, but learn to accept the truth. Because there's nothing wrong with falling in love.

Love is a wonderful thing. A magical adventure. And no matter how similar two love stories may sound, no matter how cliche they seem, each one is uniquely special in its own way.

Okay, now I'm just getting sappy. Sorry bout that don't know what came over me. Just a little too absorbed in the moment.

Love is not a logical emotion. That's what Annabeth hates about it. That's why she never really thought she'd experience it. The Fates had other plans for her.

Love was not a problem that could be solved or a question that had an answer. It was full of surprises And you would just have to see what happens next for yourself.

So when Percy and Annabeth had gone to get ice cream from the store across the street, Percy wished they had gone somewhere else.

He did not like how these random guys were all over Annabeth. I mean, he knew more than anyone else just how pretty she was.

But the way they were looking at her, or more specifically her body, was disgusting in his opinion. When one of them tried to touch her, he reached his peak point.

He stopped the guy's hand forcefully and growled in a low whisper. "Listen up buddy. This is my best friend over here, and I suggest you treat her with the proper respect a girl deserves. Or very bad things will happen to you. Got that." 'Buddy' cowered in fear.

They quickly left afterwards, not looking back. Once they got to a bench, they sat down to actually eat the ice creams.

"What was that?" Annabeth said. At first, Percy thought she was mad. Then he looked at her to find that she looked pretty amused.

"The way they were eying you made me sick to the stomach" he mumbled. "And its my job to make sure you're treated with respect". Annabeth smiled at him affectionately.

"Who knew that under all that seaweed in your brain, you could be so sweet" she said. "But you should know better than to try and protect me of all people. I am _not_ a damsel in distress and can very well fight my own battles".

Then she added softly, "thank you anyway".

Annabeth got jealous. But hey, she's only human after all (reference to the song). And jealousy is one of the mostly natural things to experience when you like some one and have accepted it.

There are a few prime factors in a good relationship and jealousy is one of them. So yeah, Annabeth is allowed to get jealous. Because last time I checked, she's just an average (jealous) teenage girl.

She had always known Percy was good looking and pretty fit. But when she went to his swim meet to support him, she had not been expecting this.

She was sitting in the bleachers, waiting for the whatever-it-is to start. Then Percy came out in his swimsuit. Annabeth had to stop her self from staring.

The absence of his shirt showed how much he really worked out. I mean, he had a hard looking six pack. Ripped muscles. The hot guy look you'd only find on a fan art sight.

It looked too perfect to be true. For a moment, Annabeth thought that maybe it was just her imagination, or maybe she was dreaming.

Her second intelligent thought was that a really skilled artist drew a super hot guy and he somehow managed to jump out of the page and come here. He looked like a god.

She tore her eyes away from her best friend and tried to divert her attention to something more interesting. Like the ripped Barbie sticker pasted at the back of the seat in front of her.

Annabeth found it _very_ interesting how it was ripped from one side but perfectly fine on the other. That's was like Percy. Ripped muscles and perfect abbs. There she went again.

Annabeth nearly cried out in joy when they beat an the races. As she watched Percy swim, she thought that it was humanly impossible for someone to swim that fast. So he was a god.

When practice was over, he headed over to her with all his... godliness. Annabeth scowled at him and he smirked. "Is all this too much for you, huh wise girl". She glowered. "Put a shirt on before I test my punching abilities on your 'all this' ".

"Yes ma'am!" He saluted, a little scared of what his friend could do to him. Not before he was stooped by a swarm of under dressed, high heeled wanna be's who had way too much make-up on.

What did they do? Dump the whole make-up drawer on their faces. As for their clothes, they may as well have been wearing bikinis. Which was fine if they were actually swimming.

Annabeth could've sworn they weren't there a few minutes ago. At looking at them closely, she realised that they were actually of them from her school.

The one with straight black hair and bright blue eyes, looking like an Asian Barbie, was Drew. The Queen Bee of Goode high.

"Hey Percy" she said in what she probably thought was a flirty manner. It actually sounded like a chipmunk on helium. "Fancy seeing _you_ here".

"Yeah, I didn't know you swim" another one spoke up. Her blonde hair were clearly bleached, her tans was a spray on and she probably had contact lenses on as well. Aria.

Then a third one with fiery red hair giggled, "you're by far the fastest swimmer I have ever seen. Literally no one has ever been that impressive". Annabeth recognised her as Stacy, the one Luke cheated on her with.

This'll be fun she thought. "You're Stacy right" she asked in sugary sweet tone. "Luke's girlfriend". All three girls narrowed their eyes at noticing Annabeth and finally acknowledged her presence.

Stacy looked at her as if she was some hobo who had come begging for food. Annabeth hates people with that sort of superior look in their eyes.

Stacy smiled venomously. "Yes. You must be Anniebelle. I've heard a lot about you. None of it being good". Percy was about to say something but Annabeth stopped him by putting a hand on his chest.

Drew glared at her. "What do you think you're doing? Running your hands all over him. Who do you think you are to do that". Annabeth sighed. She clearly wasn't the only one getting jealous.

She ignored Drew and turned back to Stacy. "Yeah. I'm 'Anniebelle'. The one who's boyfriend cheated on you with. Hope your happy together". Annie didn't sound as bitter as she thought she would.

Stacy rolled her eyes. "Look at me and look at you. I mean, think about it. Who would you yourself choose. Cool, cute and suave. Or nerdy, lame and...needy".

She continued, not really noticing the horrified look on Percy's face, which was slowly turning to anger. "He obviously dumped you to get someone worthy. Like me".

"Yeah" Annabeth muttered. "Cuz that's totally what happened. _Luke_ dumped _me_." "Please" Stacy sneered "it's not like he got dumped. So don't kid yourself".

Annabeth was ready to beat the pulp out of this girl, but she couldn't help but feel that Stacy was right. Annabeth had always been insecure, growing up the way she did. So when someone pointed out a fault in her, she agreed with them. Secretly anyway

"I'm sure _Luke_ wouldlovetoknowyou're flirting with another guy in his absence. That too, my best friend." it took all her might to stop her voice from cracking when she spoke.

Annabeth muttered a quick bye to Percy and told him she'd see him later. When he was done signing t-shirts for his fan club. With that, she rushed out of the swimming area and went straight home, straight on her bed.

Annabeth had this burning sensation in her stomach. It was twisted and fiery and she didn't like it one bit. It only came when she saw Percy with other girls. Annabeth Chase was experiencing jealousy for the first time, and she didn't like it one bit.

It didn't take long for Percy to appear at her doorway. "You okay" he asked softly. "Just Peachy" she replied, unsure of whether to be sarcastic or not.

He wasn't sure what to do, so he sat down on the bed next to her and started. "Listen, ignore everything's those girls said. Don't let it get to you because you're so much more than you know and you need to realize it and..."

She cut him off. Not with a kiss, unfortunately. "Don't let t get to _your_ head Seaweed brain, but you're an awesome best friend. So says Annabeth Minerva Chase"

Annabeth smiled at him and he grinned widely. "You always knew it, wise girl. It just took you a little (a lot) time to realize and admit it". "Don't make me wish I would eat my words" she warned teasingly. But it was true and they both knew it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you so so much to all those who read and review this story**

Chapter 6

So you've admitted you're in love and all that. What's the next step. DO SOMETHING BEFORE ME AND ALL THE PERCABETH FANS LOSE THEIR MINDS. Or before we do something for them.

Like I was saying, th he next thing you do is make a move. This is that totally cliche story where boy and girl like each other, fear the other doesn't feel the same, then kiss and live happily ever after.

The end. How hard is that. Apparently very hard. But hey, this is Percy and Annabeth's love story. And I'm gonna make sure you know every single detail about it.

Even the parts when they brush their teeth and I'll even tell you how they use the bathroom. Okay. I won got that far. But you'll know everything else soon enough.

So Percy and Annabeth were facing a dilemma. What to do. I mean, how were they supposed to confront each other. I really wish they were reading this fanfiction so that they would MAKE A MOVE ALREADY.

Of course when they saw each other, they just acted all normal and stuff. But it's kinda hard to do that when the love of your life is your best friend but you just don't have the guts to tell them and you're seeing them every single day and don't know what to do and...

Well, you get the picture. Then, a new...um...episode came up. By that, I mean it was now December. The mornings were frosty, people's winter clothes came out, shops replaced bikinis (thank God for that) with big fuzzy sweaters and scarves.

It was especially cold in New York. That's what Percy thought anyway. It was when Annabeth had dragged him to the bookstore in the chill winter morning that he couldn't stop moaning and groaning about he cold it was and how he was gonna die and how none of this was fair to him and how he was be an icicle by the time they were done.

"I- I'll be a Percysicle" he shivered. "Good" Annabeth dead planned. "At least Percysicle won't complain and moan and groan and whinge and whine like an over dramatic diva".

Percy pouted. "Are you saying you'd rather have a Percysicle than a Percy". "I think that's exactly what I said. Percysicle wouldn't be half as annoying and impatient. C'mon, were done here now" Annabeth replied.

"Finally!" Percy heaved, deciding to ignore the Percysicle comment. He dropped Annabeth to her front door, like the gentle man he was, and then head home as fast as he could.

When he entered his house, the smell of his mom's chocolate chip cookies (my faves!) filled his nose. He grabbed God knows how many and collapsed on his bed. Had it always been this warm and cosy?

Sally entered a few minutes later. "What happened" she asked. "Two words. Annabeth, bookstore, freezing" he mumbled tiredly. His mom shook her head and smiled. "That's three words honey" with that she was gone.

Percy felt terrible the next morning. He was so glad that they were on winter break now. There was no way he'd be able to even lift his head in this condition, let alone get up.

Of course when Sally saw him, she started fussing over him and rushing around to get more blankets, some soup, a thermometer and some more blankets.

She wrapped him in blankets till he wasn't able to move. Then she took his temperature and gasped at how high it was. Then, she spoon fed him soup.

Percy had to admit, he was really enjoying all the special attention. He couldn't remember the last time this mom spoon Fed him, and being a momma's boy, he cherished every second of it.

But all this didn't somehow magically cure him and make him feel better. Movies and story books tell lies is all that he could conclude. No, he still felt the same way he did when he woke up.

His room door opened and he looked up, expecting to see his mom. He was greeted by a frantic Annabeth. She took one look at him and ran forward. "Oh my God. Percy what happened. You look like hell".

"I feel like hell" he muttered in reply. "My nose is all runny, my throat aches, my head is throbbing, my ears and cheeks are red, and I'm shivering uncontrollably. Despite all this" he motioned to the cocoon of blankets he was wrapped in.

She looked at him guiltily. "This is all my fault. I made you come to the bookstore with me. I should've listened when you said you were cold. Now look what's happened. Percy, I'm so sorry. I'm a terrible person".

"Hey, no you're not. It's not you're fault that's its a freaking -38 degrees out there. And I should have dressed more appropriately. So blame me. And the weather" Percy consoled his best friend slash love of his life.

She sat down next to him on the bed and wrapped her arms around him. His shivering lessened considerably. "Body heat is the best way to warm someone up" she whispered.

"I'm staying here and taking care of you till you get better. I don't care how many days you take to recover" Annabeth stated. "You don't have to do that. In fact, I won't let you waste your time on me" Percy said back.

"Any time with you is the best time for me, seaweed brain. And you can't take care of yourself, so consider me your personal nurse from now on" Annabeth smiled.

Percy could hear the firmness in her voice and gave in. "Just keep warming me up with your body heat " he said and shifted positions to make them both comfortable.

Then Annabeth felt his for head and realised that it was really hot. "You're burning up" she said and left the room to get a wet washcloth. She wrung some water out of it and placed it on Percy's temple to help cool him down.

Annabeth patted his back lightly and softly hummed to him. He was lulled asleep within minutes thanks to her hypnotizing ways. When she felt his breathing even out, she gently moved away and decided to finish her holiday work. The sooner it got done, the better.

Just about ten minutes had passed when Percy started to shiver and shake violently, clutching his blankets. Annabeth was at his side in no time. His eyes were open now.

"What happened" she asked. "I don't know" Percy said, frustrated. "I'm under blanket after blanket, but these shivers keep going down my sports news, chilling my entire body"

That's when Annabeth noticed that he was sweating. Beads of water travelled down his face and his hands were damp. She got rid of the blankets till only one was left on him.

"What was that for" he protested. She ignored him and grabbed her MacBook, climbing onto the bed next to him and pressing her side to him. He leaned into her touch.

Now you'd think she'd be blushing mad due to her close proximity to the guy she liked. But this was Percy. Not just _some_ _guy_. And this was the time he needed her. She was gonna help him if it killed her.

"The problem is that you have too many blankets on and you're shivering because your body wasn't able to breathe. Give yourself a little air and you'll feel better" Annabeth explained to him.

"Till then, we'll be watching your favourite movie" and Finding Nemo started on the laptop. Percy rested his head on Annabeth's Hildebrand watched the movie. Little while later, he was fast asleep.

This time, he didn't wake up for two and a half hours. When he did, t was because he was having trouble breathing. His nose had gone from runny to blocked. And it was super annoying and uncomfortable.

"I can't breathe" he said, his voice sounding funny due to his nose blockage. Annabeth left the room and returned with what looked Luke a chapstick. She handed it to him.

"Inhale the scent of this and it should help you clear your nose". He did just that and it worked. I guess some advertisements do tell the truth after all.

Percy turned to go back to sleep, but Annabeth stopped him. "You need to eat". It was a statement. Not a question. Percy groaned. "Uh uh. I'll throw up".

"I wasn't asking you" Annabeth said and produced a tuna sandwich. "Here. I'll even feed it to you myself". Then she did something that shocked Percy.

She picked up one half of the sandwich and brought it up to Percy's mouth, smiling. "Open wide. Here comes the airplane." Percy couldn't believe her. "I don't like planes" he said stupidly.

"Then make way for the giant tuna ship" she said. Percy opened his mouth and took a bite. His tuna sandwich had near tasted this good before, to him. And it wasn't the sandwich. Percy was still not over the fact that Annabeth was feeding him.

She waited patiently as he chewed each bite and swallowed it. Then she made him sip some Orange juice to wash it down. She went to put the dishes away and came back with a some syrup.

"I refuse to have that they taste disgusting" Percy croaked. "It's blue" was all it took for Annabeth to make him have it. She poured some syrup in a spoon and popped it in or Percy's mouth. It didn't take long for him to fall back asleep.

When he woke up, she was still on his desk, working on who knows what. He felt so much better now. In fact, he felt like he was ready to fly at this point. Even though he was scared of heights. This just goes to say that he had fully recovered.

"You're up" Annabeth noted. "Feeling better?". Percy grinned widely. "Never been better. Wise girl, you're a miracle worker." "Yeah. I've got a whole line of sick boys waiting to be treated by me and my super special treatment powers. So off with you" she joked.

Percy fake frowned (although, he felt sort of sad inside). "And here I thought I was getting the special treatment". He mocked hurt.

Annabeth laughed. A sound that Percy loved more than anything else in the world. "My special treatments are limited to special people only. You're the only 'special people' ".

She walked over to Percy and pressed her hand to his for head, checking his temperature. "It's gone" she said triumphantly. Percy practically jumped out of the bed. "Finally. It'd been getting really stuffy in there".

"Plus" he said, running to the kitchen. "I smell BLUE COOKIES". Annabeth sighed and followed him. When she got there, he'd already stuffed his face with cookies.

Paul, Percy's (not evil) step dad, laughed. "Good to know you're feeling better Percy". While Annabeth said "your literally just had cookies this morning. Yet you act like its been a month"

"With all the sleeping and eating medicine, it sure felt like a month" was Percy's clever response. "Oh I've missed you" he said to the blue cookie he had taken a bite of. "And you, and you, and you, and don't forget you" he said, in his own little world, looking at each of the cookies in his plate.

Then he looked up and noticed Annabeth was no longer standing there. He found her working in his room. He sneaked up behind her and engulfed her in a tight hug.

"What's this for?" She asked, enjoying the warmth of his embrace.

"Taking care of me" Percy replied. "Seriously Annabeth, I can't thank you enough for what you did today. You even spoon fed me and. Plus, you stayed here all day, running around to get medicine, or food or a wet cloth for me. And you didn't even complain once. Thank you. It really means a lot."

Annabeth smiled. "What did you think. I was gonna let you be miserable in bed all day long alone? I had nothing to do today anyway. And I'd rather spend my time with you then anywhere else"

"Even the bookstore" Percy grinned. "Hmmm, I don't know. Maybe I'll just make an exception for the bookstore" she joked. "Hey" he complained.

She just rolled her eyes. He still had his arms tightly wrapped around her. "I have to work, you know" she told him. He replied "I have to hug you, you know".


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Annabeth had had enough. She had finally reached her breaking point. Because although to some people (like Percy) she was super human, in reality she was just a normal teenage girl with everyday problems.

Only she had much more than just everyday problems. Her entire life was all was one big problem.

It all stared at the beginning, obviously. What did you think. It started at the end? Although there is a saying 'the end is just the beginning'. Now we're getting off topic.

When Annabeth's parents divorced, they divorced for a reason. That reason was Helen, Annabeth's now stepmother. If you dimwits (no offense) haven't caught on yet, I mean to say that Frederick cheated on Athena with Helen.

Lately, Annabeth's dad had been getting really distant. He was always out and never seemed to have time for he. Annabeth often wondered if he even knew if she was alive or not at this point.

Then, one faithful day, Frederick came home from work. With three extra people who weren't supposed to be there.

There was a petite woman standing there next tot two identical boys. Annabeth just stood there staring, frozen in place. "Annabeth, this is Helen and her sons Matthew and Bobby. Meet your new family".

These words hit her like bricks. She didn't want new family. She just wanted her old family back. Despite everything her mom had done by leaving and all, they only thing Annabeth wanted was for things to go back to the way they were before all t his drama.

But what could she do. Helen turned out to be a monster. She didn't even bother to try and get to know Annabeth. In fact, the second Annabeth's dad was gone, she started criticizing the house and how she just saw a speck of dust on the table and how the floors needed serious sweeping and so on.

If she didn't shut up soon, Annabeth was going to take a mop and kill her with it. Worse, Helen made Annabeth do all household work and stuff. It was basically the typical cliche Cinderella scenario.

She couldn't go to her dad. She had lost him long ago when her mom left. He didn't even seem to care about anything she said or did. Heck, she could even start doing drugs and he wouldn't be bothered.

The witch, as Annabeth preferred to call Helen, got worse each day. Until one day when Annabeth accidentally dropped and broke a plate after stepping on one of the boy's legos.

She freaked. Alongside being a neat freak, Helen cared very much for her household stuff. The boy's even complained to Annabeth that their mom probably love a her dishes than she loves them.

The fact that Helen hated Annabeth was just a plus. She hated Annabeth because she was a reminder that Helen wasn't Frederick's first wife. So she did the 'reasonable' thing; take her anger out n the poor girl.

Now add all these factors up and think about all the possible terrible things that could happen to Annabeth when she broke Helen's plate.

The slap probably sounded in the whole neighbourhood. It left Annabeth with a red cheek and an extreme stinging sensation on the spot.

"YOU WORTHLESS GIRL!" the witch screamed. "Look at what you've done. Do you think I'm just here to pick up after you and clean your messes? No one wants you anyway. You're own mom left because she couldn't bear you" the she-devil scoffed.

Annabeth refused to cry. It was a sign of weakness she would absolutely not show. She grabbed her trainers and ran straight out of the front door. She kept running till she reached her destination. The river.

There was a bridge that stretched across it, so she went and stood dangerously the edge. Then she let her tears flow freely. On the count of three, she would jump into the river and get rid of all her problems.

There was no one who would really care. Except Percy, of course. But she couldn't do this anymore. Nothing was fair to her. She had a father who didn't give a second thought to her. An evil step mom, and a whole lot of life problems.

Annabeth started counting out loud. "One, t-" she obviously never got past that, because the fates brought a certain green eyed, raven haired hero to her.

"Annabeth!" he yelled, his voice on the edge of screaming. "Get down". He didn't wait for even a second, scared she might do something, and ran forward, grabbing her arms and wrapping his own around her tightly. "What were you thinking". This time he spoke softly, his voice nearly breaking.

Annabeth broke down in his arms. "I'm sorry Percy, but I can't do this anymore. I can't live any more. It's all too much. What have I ever done to the world to deserve any of this? That I'll never know.

And the best way to get rid of my problems seems to be this. Please, let me go. I'll be happier, and you won't have to deal with me any longer. No one will. I just feel like a burden to everyone".

He hugged her tighter, shocked at her confession. "Annabeth, if you weren't with me, I don't know how I'd survive. I would completely fall apart. It'd be the end of me. If you jump, I swear I'm jumping with you".

She shook her head and stepped away from his embrace, immediately missing his warmth. Now she was shocked. Would he really jump into a river, possibly killing himself, just for her. He was too good to be true.

"I don't deserve you Percy. You have a whole life ahead of you. A loving mom, awesome step dad, caring friends, you don need me. You've got the whole world." She whispered shakily.

"You are my world wise girl. You jump, I jump" he said firmly. Annabeth collapsed on the floor of the cold bridge. Shivering, shaking and soaked in tears. Percy sat down next to her and once again hugged her tight, rubbing circles in her back soothingly.

"You're cold" it was really a statement, not a question. He took off his hoodie and wrapped it around her. Clicheness. I know people, but it's just so cute. She moved to take it off. "Percy take it. You'll freeze" she said. "Better me than you" he said, stopping her from taking the hoodie off.

"I love you Annabeth, remember that". It was normal for the two to say this to each other. They were after all, the closest best friends you'll ever find. "Love you too" she mumbled into him.

When they got up, you had Percy supporting Annabeth, with one of her arms around his neck. He walked her to his house, because she was nowhere near ready to go home.

When Sally saw them, she rushed forward, attacking Annabeth with blankets and a hot drink. She called Annabeth's dad to let him know she done staying the night.

Initially, Annabeth was supposed to be on Percy's bed, and he was supposed to be on the blankets laid on the floor. But Annabeth found it hard to sleep (or so she says) and slipped off the bed, right next to Percy.

He wordlessly welcomed her with open arms, and she melted into them. He hummed to her softly till he felt her breathing even out. You can say that they both slept very peacefully that night.

This incident blew by. It was forgotten, but Percy just became more protective and careful of his best friend. What really hurt Annabeth was that her dad didn't even bother to try and find out why she wasn't there for the night or why she looked like hell. Model father he was.

When Thalia found out, of course she found out; she's one of Annabeth's best friends, she freaked and frantically checked if everything was okay with Annabeth. Annabeth was truly touched at her concern, no one had ever really cared for her this way before.

Annabeth felt like Nico understood her best. He's all about death. Heck, the kid looks like walking death. He nodded at her sympathetically, conveying that he knew how she felt.

His sister had died and before that she was the only person who cared about him. So when Bianca di Angelo died, Nico was as good as gone too. He was a wreck. It took his friends a lot to convince him no to commit suicide and to bring the old Nico back.

So yeah. There was all this. It happened and got over with. Life continued. Thalia was still goth, Nico was still emo (I don't care if you say he's not), Annabeth was still smart and Percy was still and idiot. Same old same old.

If you haven't caught on yet, Percy's extremely good looking. And by that I mean a total hottie, as the girls in his high school referred to him as. So they obviously wanted his attention and to catch his eye.

And they obviously despised Annabeth for being so close to him. They claimed that she was 'hogging' him. That's basically calling him a possession.

The populars (or another word that describes them perfectly but shouldn't be in this story) were frankly shocked at how someone like Percy could bear to hang around a nerd like Annabeth. And they made this very clear to her.

Many a times, Drew and her posse would come up to poor old Annie and tell her to back off Percy cuz he was theirs. She couldn't resist rolling her eyes at them. So she didn't resist and rolled her eyes.

But Annabeth was actually just about to come out of a bathroom stall when she heard some girls come in, gossiping about some blonde haired gray eyed one. More specifically she was that someone.

"You know Annabeth Chase hangs onto poor unfortunate Percy Jackson like a lost cause " on eod them drawled. "Puh-leez, she _is_ a lost cause. I mean look at her and look at _him_ " a shrill voice said, saying the word 'him' dreamily, as if she was in a daze.

"I even heard from Natalia that Laila told Hillary that she heard from Aria that she overheard Isler talking to Riley about how Drew was saying that Percy said Annabeth could be a real pain at times, always crawling to him with her problems.

He also said that she probably had no where else to go to, so she just came to the one a snow only person who was decent enough to stand and listen to all her problems." This was said by a new voice.

"How pathetic. I even heard that Annabeth has done it with like ten different guys. She's probably cheating on them. Actually, she's not even worth as much as for them to mourn over her loss. Again, how pathetic!"

The first girl drawled again. With that, they sashayed (i love saying that word) out of the bathroom, their impossibly and ridiculously high heels clip clopping loudly against the marble bathroom tiles with each step they took.

Annabeth was in shock. Is that what people saw her as? She knew they were just rumours. She would never go around sleeping with people.

But what about the Percy part. She knew him and he'd never go seasoning something like that about her. But lately, actually always, he'd been the one to solve all her problems and comfort her. Maybe she herself was a problem for him.

Annabeth had always been although person, but she was a person after all. And every tough tough nut cracked at some point. To reveal a softer, hidden personality.

Annabeth had cracked. High school rumours were a typical thing and she knew that, but she never thought that they would spread about her. Especially not like this. Especially if she had already been questioning these things.

She put her head down and walked right out of school. To you know where. The bridge had become a place for her to think about her issues and let out her stress at. Also when she felt like killing herself. Oh yeah, there was that little detail too.

She took a dew breath. This time there was no one to stop her. This time she would go in. This time she would finally let go of all her misery, and stop being a problem for Percy as well. And her parents.

"I'm sorry Percy" she whispered, and with that, plunged God knows how many feet high into the freezing cold river water. As she made contact with the water, her eyes were closed and she was thinking that this was finally the end for her.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Cold. The water was cold. Actually it was a freaking minus who knows what degrees. But Annabeth was so numb, her mind couldn't register anything other than the word cold.

It was mid winter. Lakes and rivers had nearly frozen over. So yeah. The water was cold. Very cold. Annabeth didn't pass out the second she hit the water.

She made contact with the water sounding a loud splash. She just hoped no on saw or heard. She did not jump in slushy water just to be saved. She wanted to go to the 'better place' as they called the place you go after dying. If she even made it to Heaven. She doubted that.

She allowed herself to sink into the water. It was a natural thing to try and swim up, but Annabeth refrained. It was becoming extremely hard to hold her breath any longer. It would've been easy for Percy. The guy practically had gills.

It didn't help that she was slowly freezing to death. Actually, in her case, it did help. If she didn't die from lack of oxygen first, at least the cold would have already a killed her.

Kill. Die. Death. These were the only words Annabeth could remember at this point. Her eyes were stinging due to contact with water. Her chest was aching because of all the water pressure. Her body numb. No, it was literally frozen. That's when she finally passed out.

When Percy could find Annabeth anywhere in school, he got worried. Then he thought that maybe she wasn't feeling well and went home. But Annabeth never missed school. Even if she was seriously ill. She'd probably bring her blankets and hop to class in her pj's. Just to not miss class.

Something was definitely wrong. School had let out now. Her called her phone, but no one answered. Then he called her house. Still no response. So he marched over to where she lived. Only to find a very unconcerned Helen and two clueless twins.

Poor Annabeth he thought. She had to deal with this every day. He wouldn't survive a day in Annabeth's shoes. Literally. Her shoes would be way too small and uncomfortable for him. And because her life seemed hard.

Maybe she was with her dad or some thing. Percy really hoped so. He knew Annabeth Montreal's get along with her dad. And by that, he meant that she hated him and thought he hated her, ignoring her and never having time for her. He sighed, still worried.

So when Percy got a call from Annabeth's dad, he jumped up. Frederick sounded frantic and urgent. He told Percy to get to the hospital and quick. It sounded as if he were crying.

Percy wasted not even a second. He leaped up and jumped into his converse. Grabbed the car keys and ran to the door. He didn't bother to stop and tell anyone where and why he was going. There would be time for that later on.

Percy burst into the hospital, the doors flying open as he did so. This caused all the stares of the people to shift from what they were doing to him. But he didn't care. He ran over to the receptionist lady.

"Annabeth Chase" he said, rather gasped, finally taking a moment to breathe. "Ah yes, suicidal attempt" the lady muttered, sort of to herself. "What relation do you have with her" the lady said, peering over at him.

He knew that best friend wouldn't cut it. He was about to lie and say boyfriend, hey a guy can dream, but Annabeth's dad appeared and said that Percy was with him. He took his hand and lead him to room seventeen, practically running. Then he stopped there and motioned for Percy to go ahead inside and see the horrors he himself had seen. Not that he actually said this.

When Percy entered the room, he almost started to wish that he hadn't. he stood there in the middle of the room, frozen in place. The sight of Annabeth made him sick to the stomach. Usually seeing her would send butterflies and electric shocks through him. Not this time.

She was lying in the hospital bed in a white gown. A variety of different tubes and machines were hooked through her. Some through her nose, some on her arms and the side of her neck. One or two through her palms.

As for the girl herself, wasn't she a picture. Annabeth always looked a picture to Percy. Just usually, she didn't exactly look a picture of death. Like one.

Her usually full of life face was now deathly pale and it seemed to have lost all of its colour completely. Her pink lips were now an interesting shade of blue. Her honey blonde curls are all tangled.

Her entire body was limp and rigged. Her ears were red and her eyes were obviously and utterly closed. Overall, she looked dead. Percy had to keep convincing himself otherwise.

Then he came back to his senses and surged forward towards the motionless girl. Taking a deep breath, he knelt down beside her and took her stone cold tiny hand in his own warm one. He nearly flinched at how impossibly cold it was.

"Annabeth" he whispered. More like pleaded. "Annabeth please talk to me. Come on wise girl. Open those big grey eyes and tell me that everything's gonna be alright. Then added in a low voice, "That you're gonna be alright."

She didn't budge. "What have you done to yourself Anna. What made you desperate enough to go far enough to do something like this? Come on. Say something!" He was getting frantic himself now. She still didn't move.

A nurse came in and told him that he had to leave now. There was no way he was about t poo leave and he made that very clear to them. That's when Sally walked in and had ed at seeing Annabeth.

There were tears in her eyes as she opened her arms to hug Percy. He sobbed into her shoulder. "Shh now. She's gonna be fine Percy. Annabeth's a fighter. She doesn't give up that easily"

"She wants to die mom. They said it was a suicidal attempt. She's not even going to try to stay alive. Dying is her aim. She gonna leave me" Percy's voice went from raised, to a whisper at the last sentence.

Sally gently took him outside. "Come on. We'll come back tomorrow and check on her. She probably just needs some rest" it sounded as if Sally was trying to assure herself as well as her broken son.

Percy didn't go to school the next day. He went st right to the hospital to see how Annabeth was holding up. Not well at all. She had pneumonia was one of the conclusions. The the other thing was the worst possible thing they could tell him. Apart from 'I'm sorry she's dead'. She was in a coma.

Percy's world fell apart when they told him this. He glanced up at at Mr Chase, who was red eyed and tear faced. But Percy didn't have it in him to go comforting the dad at the moment. He needed comforting himself.

And he needed to know that his best friend- the love of his life would be okay. There. He said it. More like though it but so what. Annabeth Chase was the love of his life.

Percy stopped eating and sleeping properly. He had bags under his eyes, which were red and swollen. He looked weak and fragile. Which he was at that point.

He visited room seventeen every single day and sat there from the time visiting hours started to when they were closed. He still went to school, walking around with a broken look on his face. His eyes had lost the bright light they once had. The only person who could bring it back was currently in a coma.

Thalia was the only other person ad affected as Percy. She hid it well but she was broken on the inside. Nico spent many nights just holding her and telling her that Annabeth was going to be okay and everything would go back to normal.

He was one of Annabeth's closest friends. Soit made a big difference to him too. But he stayed strong for Percy and Thalia's sake. They needed shoulder to cry on and he was the shoulder.

At the hospital, Percy would just sit there for hours. Staring at the horrifying sight of Annabeth and making his stomach lurch. Sometimes he'd talk to her, not sure whether or not she could hear him. He never gave up on her. Even if it was no use and she didn't respond.

He simply snarled at all the sympathetic looks that he got from the doctors when they saw him sitting in room seventeen for hours each day. He didn't need their sympathy. He needed them to help Annabeth. And hurry up with it.

People told Percy that she was about as good as dead by this time. I mean, it had been two months now. Two freaking months Annabeth had food and water enter her through a drip. Two freaking months she hadn't even stirred.

Sally tried her level best to comfort Percy. But nothing would work. No amount of special chocolate chip cookies, consolations and blue candy would calm him down.

Percy was mad at her parents. Her dad didn't give her enough time or anything. He left her with an evil stepmother who could compete with Cinderella's step mom. Alone to fend for herself. Yet Annabeth said nothing.

And the wonderful stepmother hadn't even bothered to make a trip and see how Annabeth was doing. Nor did she feel any grief or show any sorrow. Percy thought, actually knew, that she did only feel Annabeth's absence because she didn't have a personal slave at her service anymore.

Luke even came to visit once. Thalia gave him what he deserved for breaking Annabeth's heart (a good 'Thalia style' beating. Worse than regular beatings, I'll have you know)and then yelled at him for even having the nerve to come visit the girl he cheated on.

She was ready to slap him a few more times, but, surprisingly, Percy stopped her. He said that it was Luke's duty to come see how his ex was doing after being hospitalized. It was the least that the snowball could do.

The doctors told Percy that two months was nothing. People stayed in comas for years. When Thalia asked if those people recovered after waking up from the coma, the doctor heartlessly told them that they 'didn't make it'.

Thalia and Percy, however, stayed adamant on the fact that Annabeth would wake up and be fine. They visited room seventeen every day, with Nico coming as much as he could as well.

It was about one week later that things started happening. He sat in his bedroom, having come back from the hospital a few hours ago. Letting his tears fall. He missed her. She was right there and he missed her so bad, he thought he would die if she didn't wake up soon.

He put his head in his knees and closed his eyes. A soft knock broke the mournful silence of his room. "Knock knock" said a soft voice. One that Percy would know anywhere. The one that he had been dying to hear. His eyes widened as he jumped up and turned to look at Annabeth.

Her eyes were open. They were open and as radiant as ever. Some colour had returned to her face, and her body had regained a little posture. She looked at Percy, who had a tear streaked face and more tears in his eyes.

"Percy?" she whispered hoarsely. He rushed forward and took her in his arms gently. Burrying his face in her hair, he inhaled her sweet lemony vanilla scent.

"How,are you here" was the first obvious question. "I just woke up and they kept me for about two hours" Annabeth replied. "But I refused to stay any longer. I had to see you"

Then the other questions came rolling in one after the other. "What were you thinking! What did you do to yourself Annabeth! Do you know what state I would be in if you- you d..."

The last word was left unsaid. "I would probably go jump the same lake you did to kill myself as well. Why did you do it." Percy's voice had now become desperate. He looked so fragile and worried that Annabeth's heart melted. Was this all for her?

"I was sick of everything. Of life" she said. "I wasn't gonna soak up any more of your shirts with my Bostonians constant tears. You've done so much for me" he was about to say something but she stopped him.

"I thought that the only way to end my misery is by ending life. That was the most doable option. And you have to stop wasting your time worrying about me. I'm not worth i-"

Percy cut her off and this time it was with a kiss. (Cheering loudly. WHOO! FINALLY!). He poured all his emotion into that breathtakingly kiss. All that needed to be said was conveyed.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, cupping her face slightly, and she knotted her hands in his hair. The cliche fireworks erupted louder and brighter than ever. They pulled back and justly stood there, enjoying each others warmth.

Percy was the first to speak. "You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that. Annabeth, wise girl, I love you. I love you so much it killed me to see you on that hospital bed and I had broken down because-"

This time, she pressed her lips against his. They were warm and soft. And sort of salty. "I love you too seaweed brain". Both of them could feel each others smiles through the kiss. And at that moment, their lives were finally complete.


End file.
